When Injuries and Liability Aren’t Enough: The Importance Of Causation

Personal injury law is particularly interesting and quite complicated. The first thing that you need to know is that there are three solid merits that your case is going to need in order to be successful – damages, liability and causation. Let’s break this down a notch.

· Damages

Obviously, the first thing that your case is going to need is damages. They could be both pecuniary and non-pecuniary. That is to say that you could have sustained physical damages which are valued with documentation such as medical bills, for instance. Furthermore you could have sustained emotional damages in the form of pain and suffering which are assessed by the court in every different case.

· Liability

This is the legal responsibility of a party to recover the damages. When someone has negligently caused another person wrong, he’s obligated to repair it in the amount stipulated by the legal provisions.

· Causation

This is the third and amongst the most important requisites for your case. The causation is a legal institute which requires the damages to be direct result of the accident for which the accused is liable for. It might sound a bit complicated but it really isn’t. For instance, if your neighbor’s dog bites you and you sustain physical injuries in relation, the latter are in direct causation with the accident for which the accused is liable for.

So, if that’s the case, how can things get complicated? Well, that’s why we said that personal injury law is particularly complicated. Imagine this – you’ve been involved in a car accident. As a result, you’ve broken your leg and you sustained considerable damages that you are now filing for. However, a few months later, you begin to feel dizziness, nausea, migraines and a wide range of symptoms which might be indicative of a brain injury. Are they in direct causation with the car accident? Even if they are, it’s going to be significantly harder to prove this.

Another example with the Emotional damages is also appropriate here to demonstrate the complications that may arise. Let’s imagine you’ve been attacked by your neighbor’s vicious dog. It has caused you severe physical injuries that you file for. However, after a week, you start having nightmares, troubled sleeping, raised anxiety levels and many other emotional damages. Once again, it’s highly likely that they are caused by the stress induced by the accident but it’s going to be significantly harder for you to prove this.

In any case, all of the premises have to be existent and to be established in order for your case to be successful. These are not subjected to the slightest speculation and lacking each one of them is going to have a detrimental impact on your entire case. Most of the injury lawyers have experienced a host of different reasons for injuries that surfaced after the accident. They understand how to develop and present a case and still win compensation for their clients. That is why it is important to hire their services when you have been injured.